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Would You Buy Ody Mandrell's Podracer Vehicle?

This will discuss ONLY the vehicle in the title of the thread (in this case Ody Mandrell's Podracer vehicle from The Phantom Menace).

I will cover several unmade vehicles for the action figures per week, choosing them from a rotating schedule through the movies and the Expanded Universe.

I'll order it TPM, AOTC, ROTS, ANH, ESB, ROTJ, EU, and then keep going back through the order in that manner.

So here I'm only asking you if you'd buy Ody Mandrell's Podracer vehicle from The Phantom Menace?

I envision this vehicle for the $24 price range. At least it should be if it didn't turn out to be an exclusive.

The more obscure podracer vehicles for background characters could have been 2009 exclusives for the 10th Anniversary of TPM, but that window of opportunity is over.

However, I'm going to handle polling for the Podracers based on criteria that takes into account action figures Hasbro has already made, possible action features the pod could utilize, and how cool it looks (as some were better designs than others). I will later poll on re-releases / upgrades to Anakin's and Sebulba's pods, but for the less-involved racer characters, let's just assume we're going to get these TPM vehicles or upgrades to them again, then vote whether you'd want to flesh out your race contestants with these other ones.

Ody's podracer's best feature could be that it fires a pitdroid out the back of it, to simulate Ody's race-ending disaster during his pitstop after the first lap.

The only other thing it might do is have the flaps be moveable by remote buttons similar to the way Anakin's works.

The best reason to own this pod would be to recreate a racing diorama.

An Ody figure should be included with his racer, most likely - as well as some pit droids.

Do you want it made?

What other features would you want on it?

Why would you NOT want it?

How do you think it would sell if produced?

Podracing could be again featured in The Clone Wars and I think Ody is still alive then to compete again. I'm not sure if he didn't retire after 10 years from TPM though - or he might have been killed during that interim.

I know I talked about a set of 5 pod racers being sold together in one box in a previous post, but I would have to say no. First and formost because 1 singular podracer is pointless to have without others. I know we have two already, although 10 years outdated, but without at least the promise of three completely new molds, I wouldn't go out of my way to buy just one. For me, it's five different pod racers, or none.

Secondly, the pod racer scene is really cool. Pod racing video games are fast and fun. Pod racer toys are kind of boring. There is no real good way to display them outside of the starting positions. Children could only race two at once, which is probably why we only have two. I really don't see a kid market for anyone besides Anakin and Sebubla.

Nowhere in your incoherent ramblings did you come anywhere close to the answer. Thanks to you, everyone in this room is now stupider having heard you. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul. -Billy Madison-

Nope, no way I would buy this or any other podracers. I didn't care for the scene and it's way too late for kids to care unless the movie is re-released in theaters (hopefully with Jar Jar taken out.) I only bought Anankins and sebulbas when I could get them for $5 each off of E-bay. In retrospect, I'd rather have the $10.

I only own one pod racer (Sebulba's) and on on the fence about picking up the other one. I have absolutely no interest in any other the other pods. They were on scene for a minute, they don't do much, and you couldn't display them all at once without a ton of space. I vote NO.

Just a point of information: the Gungan Bongo Submarine didn't exactly lose.

The last I checked the poll in the Legacy forum, the vehicle had a perfect 50-50 tie going on (well, the score was more like 15-15) but that's still not "a win" though I'd like to be able to buy the vehicle myself and put Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and JarJar in it.

Anyway, I'm only declaring winners and losers, and the Bongo still hasn't won in spite of my wishes.

Overall, TPM does the best in terms of PT movies getting winners amongst our voters.

But back to Ody's racer.

I was going to display the racers in the starting position with a grandstand to display all my other SW aliens (with a few assorted humans mixed in).

I'd line up the racers in 2 rows because of space limitation in a display case. Not accurate, but I think people are right - we'll only probably ever get 5 different racers in total if Hasbro made any more.

I think only 2 would fit in "Ultimate Battle Pack" styled exclusive packaging and they could sell the set for $50-70.

This way they could re-issue Anakin and Sebulba's racers - but put them in 2 different BPs so someone would have to buy both of them.

Then add another racer to each pack - one that did something in the movie and already has an action figure:

Ody's could fire a pit droid
Teemto's could spin that wheel-like pod off the engines
Mars Guo's engines could explode

then you'd have Anakin's and Sebulba's with 2 of these divided amongst 2 Ultimate Battle Packs.

Maybe add Kitster and Wald to these packs, re-issue Shmi, Padme, C-3PO, R2-D2, JarJar, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Watto, along with the obvious pilots. There you have 13 figures, but they could count Kitster and Wald as one, which would be how they might have come carded. Or Graga could be inserted in there as well (Rum Sleg is another candidate).

Unfortunately, Dud Bolt has one of the coolest looking pods, but it doesn't do anything.

The other racers that don't have a pod (but do have a figure) are Clegg Holdfast and Gasgano. I can't picture Clegg's racer, but Gasgano's is clear - though his racer doesn't do much that's "toyetic" in the movie either. His racer might be a candidate for a light-up rear viewscreen so he can track Anakin, but that's sort of boring. While you're adding electronics, you can add his soundeffects, but Sebulba's and Anakin's soundeffects are much cooler!

Anyway, in the first 5 that I'd recommend (and I'll poll for those other two - Teemto's and Mars,' later) the single one left out could be a store exclusive marketed at the same time the other larger battlepack sets come out.

Perhaps TPM's 15th Anniversary in 2014?

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Anyway, in the first 5 that I'd recommend (and I'll poll for those other two - Teemto's and Mars,' later) the single one left out could be a store exclusive marketed at the same time the other larger battlepack sets come out.

Perhaps TPM's 15th Anniversary in 2014?

See, I was thinking a large battle pack with 5 pod racers, their drivers, some pit droids, and maybe the viewing pod with all the characters in it. That being said, I don't think it would sell. It's just not iconic enough to outlast the years since it's been released. You're best bet would be a exclusive to some convention.

Nowhere in your incoherent ramblings did you come anywhere close to the answer. Thanks to you, everyone in this room is now stupider having heard you. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul. -Billy Madison-

Nope. There are only a couple of podracers that I would consider buying at this point. Maybe Dud Bolt's, possibly Mawhonic's (if we ever get a figure of him), or a remake of Anakin's or Sebulba's; but that's about the extent of my interest in the podrace sequence.

"To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence… When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." - C.S. Lewis